


there's something sweet about you

by blushingprince



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, M/M, smut later on
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-10
Updated: 2016-07-10
Packaged: 2018-07-22 17:24:38
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,434
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7447726
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blushingprince/pseuds/blushingprince
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Well, we are on a date, aren’t we?”</p><p>“Or…..a friendly encounter?”</p><p>In which Niles hits on Leo but it backfires on him and they actually end up turning into something special</p>
            </blockquote>





	there's something sweet about you

Leo didn’t date much. He wasn’t sure why, but since that age when people starting getting together he always found himself alone. It was confusing, because he didn’t always want company, but he didn’t know why he didn’t find it. He hoped that maybe he just had bad luck; he would meet someone when he got older. 

Tapping his fingers gently against the desk of the lecture hall, the same subject brooded on the young man’s mind. He was 20 now, and he had barely dated. Sure enough he had kissed people, had some endeavors here and there, but something hung at the back of his mind. Here he was at college where everyone was hooking up nonstop and he, in all in stiffness, was still a virgin. 

He needed to get laid. He wasn’t sure how or where. No one piqued his interest and it drove him insane. He had too much pride, it was pouring out of his ears, so it wasn’t like he’d go for just anyone. Still, he thought about what it’d be like to really touch someone.

Class ended abruptly. Leo clicked his tongue and trotted out of class with his messenger bag.  
He headed out for the chess tables at the plaza. It wasn’t a long walk. The weather was warm and not overbearing; Leo internally thanked someone, anyone that he wasn’t sweating everywhere.

It was a bit of a surprise that the tables at the plaza were vacant. Leo squinted his eyes and stared into the midday sun until he realized he was a day early for the regular chess club to arrive. It’s not as if this spot was all the rage in a college town anyhow. He took a seat at one table, trying to imagine different pieces going in attack positions when an alarming sound shook his ears.

Was that someone snoring?

Disgusting. How horrific. Leo nearly jumped up. He arose to find who was disturbing the peace.  
Weaving through the tables, there wasn’t anyone he could plainly see until a figure curled up on a bench from the other side came into view.

Leo was appalled.

He stood in front of the bench, tapping his foot, crossing his arms, and cleared his throat.

The person did not awaken. 

Well, it’s not like Leo was going to touch them. He coughed loudly a few times and considering using a stick. 

Out of God’s grace, the person somehow began to wake up, stretching out their limbs and blinking their eyes.

The stranger had soft white hair, almost feather-like, and one azure eye. The other was covered (an eye patch?). His bronze skin reflected oddly off his light hair. 

The man was met with Leo glaring at him.

“Well, hello” the stranger coughed.

“Hi,” Leo spat out impatiently. 

“To what do I owe the pleasure of?” the stranger wryly asked.

“I could ask you why you’re ruining this beautiful plaza with your snoring”

The man gasped. “I snore?”

“That’s not the point!” his frustration was running high.

“There, there sweetheart. Don’t be so upset” The man sat up and rubbed his face. “It’s early”

Leo looked at his watch. “It’s 12:30 pm”

“Like I said. It’s early” The man ran a hand over his face and through his hair. “Look, um, whatever your name is” he began

“Leo” the blond stated matter of factly. 

“I’m real sorry for ruining whatever this place is. I was pretty drowsy.”

Leo looked at him through squinted eyes. No remorse. “It’s a chess plaza”

Oh God. “Well……….I guess everyone has things they like. Mm now that I look at you, you’re not that bad.”

“Excuse me?” His arms refolded and he held his chin up high.

“Don’t be a tease. I’m saying you’re cute” The man curled his lips and nearly laughed.

Leo could feel himself blush a bit. But who was this man to tell him that? He was searching for a response but the stranger spoke already.

“Tell you what. I’ll buy you a drink to make it up to you.” The man grinned wide.

Oh. 

He obviously had to think up some sort of excuse. He carded through his thoughts looking for some sort of rejection, not realizing a minute had passed.

The man frowned. 

“No?”

“I can’t drink. I’m not 21” He blurted out with as much grace as a goldfish.

The stranger burst into a cackle. “How about some coffee?”

Leo squinted at him. Why did the man even care? Personally, he just wanted to go home.

“Uh sure. I’ll go” Why not. It’s not like this could hurt.

Leo was already looking off into the sky and trying to forget about the whole encounter when the man pulled out his phone, ready to take down Leo’s number. 

“I’m Niles, by the way. I take it your name’s Leo” He showed his phone to the blonde. “Gonna need those digits”

Leo frowned, questioning himself and his life decisions as he typed his number into Niles’ phone. Was this a date? Probably not, it was just free coffee.

By the time he finished giving Niles his number, the man had stood up. Why was this person even sleeping on a park bench anyways?

“Niles?” he tried testing the name on his lips.

“M’yes?”

“Can you tell me why you were sleeping on a park bench? Do you not have a home?”

Niles’ mouth twisted into a feline smile. “Oh, so you really want to know?”

Leo’s mouth parted. He could not respond immediately as he was usually able to. “It was a passing thought”

Did Niles look amused? “If you really must know, I hadn’t slept in a day or two, and I was just catching up on my snoozing before I got busy”

Leo’s mind swirled with questions. Why wasn’t he sleeping a regular eight hours a night? Who sleeps on park benches? What does busy mean?

The last thought Leo had before Niles’ phone started buzzing, was that he was relatively taller than him.

“Sorry, blondie, I gotta run” he gave a quick wave, a grin and dashed off.

What just happened to me. Taking out his phone and checking the time, Leo tried to sense if there was something inherently wrong with the situation. Perhaps, absurd was the word. Someone had just gotten his phone number and they were……..a stranger?

__________

Leo walked back to his dorms in defeat. How could something like this happen to someone like him? In the depths of his singlet, he tried to relax. Surely he would forget about this ordeal. He picked up his copy of Les Miserables and lost the next few hours. Leo took care of his homework and dinner and brought his things to the bathroom. He delicately removed his shirt, then pants, then underwear. The water was almost too hot, and he closed his eyes in the pleasure. The moments of the day came back to him as he relaxed in the tub. Niles? He didn’t even know who that was. Just a face, a name, a piercing blue eye. In the midst of his thoughts, Leo heard his phone beep. He reached out absently to retrieve it. 

[text] unknown: Find anymore sleeping bodies at your chess club?

What? Oh. He froze, realizing this was most likely Niles, and nearly dropped his phone in the water.  
Should he respond? Biting his lip, Leo realized that now was where he could decide if anything happened or not. But this Niles could just be playing around with him. 

But what did he care? It’s not like he would find something genuine. No one was gonna like him for who he was. He had already decided he just wanted to try having sex. 

[text] Leo: I think you are the exception

Abandoning his bath and grabbing a towel, Leo found himself looking at more books. There could always be reading to be done, learning somewhere else. 

[text] Niles: does that mean I’m special?

Immersing himself so deep in his studies, the twilight skies darkened overhead, changing color, and eventually began to lighten. Leo lay on his bed still in a towel, his hair a mess. He looked at his phone, and back to his room, more messy than the neat state it usually was in.

4:34 am

Oh. He didn’t respond to Niles.

[text] Leo: if that makes you special, I may need to reexamine the definition of the word

Leo rose to toss on pajamas. He realized it was no use, though. He had class at 8:00. An English class that he took particular interest in.  
Even if he went back to sleep, would he be able to wake up in time for his class?

Deciding against it, he set himself up with his laptop and something to drink. He could pass the time quickly enough.

If he just closed his eyes for one second……

Six am popped around and his phone buzzed.

[text] Niles: I think I can show you a few ways how well I fit that word

Groggy eyed and out of it, Leo dropped his phone and closed his eyes. Who really cared about whoever his face when it was this early in the morning. Why was he even awake…….

Leo’s painfully loud alarm began screaming at 6:45 am. Enough time for him to wake up, get dressed, make sure his hair looked good, and get coffee before class.

The blond rolled out of bed rather gracefully and checked his phone. It was still open to his text messages and he read the last one he received, then promptly throwing his phone on the floor.

He proceeded to get ready for the day, donning a button down and jeans. His headband was not forsaken. Making sure he looked impeccable, he left his dorm in the direction of the cafe he favorited. A large coffee was ordered with a cranberry muffin. The morning wind was still brisk and biting and Leo was glad he had adorned himself with a scarf and jacket. 

With a bit of coffee still left in his cup, he made way to the lecture hall. He was one of the first few students to arrive like usual, and he was able to get a front row seat. Within half an hour the rest of the students filed in. The teacher arrived, full of energy, and Leo clicked his pencil, ready to jot down notes. 

[text] Leo: do you really need to try that hard?

[text] Niles: Who said I even tried

[text] Leo: you seemed really bothered to me

[text] Niles: I can certainly show you what trying is

[text] Leo: like sleeping on park benches?

[text] Niles: it was the first step in my seduction

[text] Leo: wow you were trying to seduce me

[text] Niles: I’m a sleeping beauty you just don’t know it yet

[text] Leo: please comb your hair next time

______________

The week continued in similar progression; Leo attended his classes, did his homework, ate dinner, slept, and sometimes he texted Niles. He didn’t quite approve of it himself but it increased in frequency and soon Niles was asking him to join him for a cup of coffee. 

They decided on a cafe not too far from Leo’s campus. It was a family run establishment and the atmosphere was great according to Niles, who had apparently tried coffee all over town. When Leo thought about it, he didn’t really know anything about the man. It did worry him, however, how much this sounded like a date. He was hesitant to attend anything of the sort.

Saturday arrived without any excuses that could pull Leo away from his coffee date. The least he could do would be make sure he looked nice. And arrive early. Very early. Standing in front of the mirror for the last time, he decided to head out. The weather had gone a bit chilly, but it was nothing harsh. The blond made sure of the address and name when he entered and found a table close to a window. Within a few minutes of starting out the glass, his boredom showed itself and he took out his phone. Luckily there was free wifi. 

How much time had passed? This was annoyingly nerve wracking. Yes, I’m looking for a man in an eye patch. The more engaged he got on his phone the less he realized what was going on around him. A white-haired man seated himself on the other side of the table.

“Hey”

Leo had been furiously tweeting his frustrations away and by the time he looked up he almost forgot he was meeting up with another person. Oh. Wait he looks really nice. 

“Hi”

“I texted you that I was here but I didn’t get a response, so I figured you were doing something else” Niles elaborated.

Leo smiled wide. “Yea”

“Anyways let’s get something to drink”

His eyepatch stood out definitely, but he was still handsome. His features were strong and defined on tan skin. Leo had not realized it before but now that Niles was wearing more form fitting clothes, he was rather fit.

Leo internally thanked God that they each bought their own drinks. You don’t do that on dates, right?  
Niles had gotten some sort of frappuccino drink with lots of whip cream, while Leo had opted for a latte. 

“No flavor in the drink?”

“I just like the taste of coffee” Leo explained

“I can get behind that, but sometimes I just wanna have fun. Whatever this thing is. It tastes like strawberry shortcake. Here try some”

He indicated for Leo to drink some and the blond pressed his lips together. From the same straw? But he didn’t want to seem weird. He didn’t even know this person. He swallowed and took a sip.

“It’s very sweet” he commented.

“Did you like it?” Niles asked.

“I probably wouldn’t get it on my own, but it’s alright”

Leo took a sip from his latte to clear his mind. What should he say? Before he could start, Niles began babbling.

“I’m glad I made it because work almost made me go overtime even though I told them not today”

Leo raised an eyebrow. Work? “What do you do?”

“I’m a photographer. I work at a studio in downtown and it’s pretty work heavy stuff. A lot of the time we like to develop our own film”

“That’s pretty interesting”

“What about you? You go to school, right”

“Yeah. I’m studying English but I’m sort of still not sure”

“Not sure about what?”  
“Well there are things I’d like to do but……..there are things I feel obligated to do. Like there’s two edges of a spectrum”

“I get that. It’s like when you’re pursuing something like photography and people tell you not to do it”

“Quite like that.”

“So what is it? That you want to do? Or that you need to do”

“Well…...my family historically is political. My brother went into politics and maybe I should too but I don’t know.”

He wasn’t sure if he could keep going. Truth to be told, this was only something Leo had told Elise.

“I’ve always read books,” he continued, “I find the English language to be lovely. I just want to do something with it”

Okay that was mostly true.

“Don’t look so dejected” Niles spoke up. “You’re very young.”

“Are you not young too?”

“Well, I wonder, you did say you were under 21”

“I’m barely there. I’m 20.”

“That makes me four years older than you”

Leo took a sip of his latte. Okay.

“Say, Leo, did you want to go somewhere to eat?”

What? But.

“I’m pretty hungry”

The blond stared back at Niles, knowing he was supposed to give a response but his head was in stasis. He already divulged too much about himself. This was too much. 

“It’s alright I - “

“No it’s okay, I’ll come”  
Niles found himself rather suprised. 

They walked a few blocks to a Chinese eatery that the older man recommended. They both ordered dumplings for a starter and waited. 

Niles decided it was time to break the ice.

“So, you were pretty reluctant to come. It’s good you’re here”

He watched in amusement as Leo turned a fine shade of pink. “I wouldn’t say reluctantly. Maybe a different word.”

The white haired man chuckled. “I’ve never had to convince someone that hard to go out with me.”

Leo yelped. “Go out??”

“Well, we are on a date, aren’t we?”

“Or…..a friendly encounter?”

Leo looked at Niles in horror, who got that feline like grin on his face. The other man pulled out his phone and showed Leo a screencap of their text messages from last week. 

[text] Niles: you have a singlet? Does it save you from all the noisy roommates bringing in drunkards to fuck?

[text] Leo: can hear them through the walls doesn’t make a difference

[text] Niles: just pay them back with your personal bedtime sounds

[text] Leo: do I really want to do that

[text] Niles: dial me up anytime blondie

“A date,” Leo said slowly

“A date,” Niles agreed

The dumplings arrived and even Leo could agree they were pretty good. He was hesitant to order another dish knowing Niles might pay for it. 

They ended up having orange chicken  
“You would not believe what happens in a big family. Camilla and Xander are always giving Kamui the attention, but now that everyone is pretty much grown up, we never even see each other. Xander is in office and Camilla is engaged and Elise is finishing up high school. I mean I miss the times I could spend with my siblings freely. Maybe I didn’t really treasure them enough and now we’re spread around the country. Especially since I have such a hard time making friends. But now I’m in college and I have to decide what to do and stuff. Wow, Niles, this chicken is really good?”

Niles forgot about the time. He forgot how much he liked listening. Leo was very interesting, to say the least. 

“I’m glad you like it. You should have some more.” He chuckled. 

“So you’re really an only child?”

“An orphan, yea. I don’t know about my parents or anything like that. Grew up in the foster system.”

“Fuck, I’m sorry”

“It’s nothing to apologize about. I live a good life now”

Leo looked up at him and smiled, full of warmth and sincerity. The white haired man was taken aback at first, but then he smiles back. Leo really did look lovely.

“You have some sauce on your mouth”

“Here?” he attempted to wipe it off.

Niles brushed the corner of his thumb against Leo’s lip. “Right there”

Leo’s cheeks went rose dusted. “Thank you”

An employee turned the lights off. “We’re closing now. Sorry”

“Looks like we better hurry” Niles muttered. What terrible timing. He’d be sure to leave a bad yelp review.

Niles grabbed Leo’s hand. It felt new in his own. They had already finished their meal so it made sense to vacate.

“Where are you leading me?” Leo mumbled as they walked along the sidewalk under the night sky. A half full moon illuminated their trek.

“Where should we go?” Niles meandered.  
“Probably. I should go home. Got class tomorrow” 

Niles nodded. “I think I know how to get back”

As Leo was a sleepy mess, a lack of caffeine in his system, he let Niles pull him along through the lit up streets. Why was he trusting this man he barely knew? They spoke back and forth to each other, but he couldn’t remember most of it.

Soon they were inside campus, and Leo let the way to his dorm. 

“I think I’ll be okay from here”

Niles didn’t exactly want to leave yet. 

“I really….I really enjoyed tonight, Leo.”

A sweet smile made its way on the blond’s face. “I had fun”

Niles got a bit closer, again grasping Leo’s pliant hand.

For some reason, I feel like I don’t want to mess around with him.

Leo cupped Niles’ cheek with his free hand and pressed a kiss to it. It was the simplest gesture, but it was all he could think of.

Niles was drawn in by Leo. By his smart aleck behavior, by his surprising sweetness, by his smile. He pulled Leo in close to himself and pressed a kiss to lips. “Goodnight, Leo”

As they parted, he gave a wave with an “I’ll text you”

**Author's Note:**

> okay. I'm dying. anyways. Please let me know what you thought  
> my twitter is l0rdleo  
> btw! Niles definitely knew Leo was over 18 so don't worry about that


End file.
